Master Thesis: Xen as a real-time hypervisor

Background:

ACU6 Pro OH use Xen as the bare metal (type 1) hypervisor, with Linux running in dom0 as the base system and usually also Linux running in the user domain (domU) for the actual application.

In an earlier thesis a PoC was made with Zephyr RTOS running in domU, and it is an interesting use-case. However, using an RTOS in a virtual machine does not give any real time guarantees on the full system, as it is at the mercy of the hypervisor.

Scope:

This thesis would look at transforming Xen into a real-time capable hypervisor, on arm64 (embedded). The work would be both theoretical, investigating what is needed form a hypervisor to fulfill hard/firm/soft real-time, compare that to what Xen provides today and then practically implement real time features into the hypervisor.

Evaluation in the end of what level of real-time guarantees can be made.

Challenges:

The execution model for arm64 with both a hypervisor (Xen) and a proper RTOS becomes quite complicated with many different levels and subtle behaviors, meaning that the theoretical analysis is hard to make comprehensive. Possibly certain simplifications can be made, if they can be shown not to affect the result.

Similarly, there are a lot of code and components making practical experimentation challenging.

Benefits of working with us

Engage in cutting-edge automotive technology development.

Collaborate in a dynamic and innovative team environment.

Contribute to significant advancements in automotive system reliability.

Skills & Requirements:

Ideal candidates should be enrolled in a university program, preferably Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, Physics or similar.

The ideal candidate should also have experience from: RTOS and embedded software development

We are also looking for these personal traits: easy going, friendly, open minded, tech-entusiastic and with a meticulously mindset.